Read Online MA11-12 Myth-ion Improbable Something Myth-Inc by Robert Asprin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert Asprin
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over to where the man stood behind the bar. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but after a moment he laughed and looked at me as if I were the brunt of a joke. I pretended to bite and chew on an asparagus spear and just smiled back.
At that moment Aahz and Tananda came in. They glanced first at Glenda, then saw me and came over and sat down in the other two chairs, their backs to the main part of the room.
“Started without us, I see,” Tananda said.
“Couldn’t resist,” I said loud enough for the bartender guy to hear. Then I whispered, “This stuff is awful.”
“What is she doing?” Aahz asked, his voice a barely audible whisper.
I pretended to eat a tiny bit of grass, covering my mouth as I answered him.
“Getting information. And for heaven’s sake, don’t order the food. You have any luck?”
“None,” Tananda said.
A few seconds later the bartender pointed down the street in the opposite direction from where we had entered the town. Glenda smiled and came back over.
“Horses are sold down at a stable just outside the edge of town,” she said. “I told him we’d clean the kitchen for our food and drink.”
“I wonder what we’ll have to do for horses.” Aahz asked, shaking his head.
Glenda shrugged and kept pretending to eat.
“Besides,” I said. “We don’t know where we’re going yet.”
“True,” she said.
“That’s our biggest problem,” Aahz said.
Suddenly it dawned on me that we should know where we were going. What kind of magik map would simply lead to a dimension without giving directions to the location of the treasure in the dimension? After all, a world was a very large place to be looking for one cow.
I had taken the magik out of the map as far as getting to this crazy dimension. But it hadn’t occurred to us to check the map once we were here.
“Aahz,” I whispered. “Check the map.”
He frowned at me. “Why would I—”
He must have had the same thought I had. Maybe, just maybe, the magik was back for local directions.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the parchment. Since his back was to the bar, he kept the map in front of him so no one else in the place could see it. Then, slowly, he opened it.
It was instantly clear to me, as I pretended to love a hunk of cucumber, that the map had again changed. It was no longer a dimension map, but now a map of Kowtow.
The customers closest to us finished off their veggie plate and got up to leave. That left only two other tables and the guy behind the bar. And at the moment he wasn’t looking.
“Open it all the way and see where we are,” Glenda said. “It’s clear.”
Aahz, much to his credit, didn’t turn around to check to see if she was right. He simply opened the map and spread it out over our plates of bad food.
No one paid any attention.
The golden cow palace was marked on the map. Well, at least we knew where that was.
Evade, the town we were in now was also marked. The road between them was marked as the lines between dimensions had been marked. There were a lot of other towns along the way, and one thing was very, very clear. We were still a long way from the golden cow.
Glenda studied the map hard, almost as if she were memorizing it.
“See anything that will help?” Tananda asked.
“If we go back to Vortex #6 I can get us a lot closer.”
“Thank heavens,” I said.
“Don’t be thanking anyone yet,” she said, staring at the map. “It’s still going to be too far to walk.”
Aahz folded up the map, put it back in his pouch, and stood.
“Tananda and I will go find a secluded place to hop back,” he whispered, leaning forward so only the three of us could hear him. “Think you two can get out of here without being noticed?”
“Easy,” Glenda said.
“See you there,” Tananda said, standing and moving toward the front door.
After we had pretended to eat more of our lunch, pushing the stuff into a pile on one side of the plate like I used to do as a
At that moment Aahz and Tananda came in. They glanced first at Glenda, then saw me and came over and sat down in the other two chairs, their backs to the main part of the room.
“Started without us, I see,” Tananda said.
“Couldn’t resist,” I said loud enough for the bartender guy to hear. Then I whispered, “This stuff is awful.”
“What is she doing?” Aahz asked, his voice a barely audible whisper.
I pretended to eat a tiny bit of grass, covering my mouth as I answered him.
“Getting information. And for heaven’s sake, don’t order the food. You have any luck?”
“None,” Tananda said.
A few seconds later the bartender pointed down the street in the opposite direction from where we had entered the town. Glenda smiled and came back over.
“Horses are sold down at a stable just outside the edge of town,” she said. “I told him we’d clean the kitchen for our food and drink.”
“I wonder what we’ll have to do for horses.” Aahz asked, shaking his head.
Glenda shrugged and kept pretending to eat.
“Besides,” I said. “We don’t know where we’re going yet.”
“True,” she said.
“That’s our biggest problem,” Aahz said.
Suddenly it dawned on me that we should know where we were going. What kind of magik map would simply lead to a dimension without giving directions to the location of the treasure in the dimension? After all, a world was a very large place to be looking for one cow.
I had taken the magik out of the map as far as getting to this crazy dimension. But it hadn’t occurred to us to check the map once we were here.
“Aahz,” I whispered. “Check the map.”
He frowned at me. “Why would I—”
He must have had the same thought I had. Maybe, just maybe, the magik was back for local directions.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the parchment. Since his back was to the bar, he kept the map in front of him so no one else in the place could see it. Then, slowly, he opened it.
It was instantly clear to me, as I pretended to love a hunk of cucumber, that the map had again changed. It was no longer a dimension map, but now a map of Kowtow.
The customers closest to us finished off their veggie plate and got up to leave. That left only two other tables and the guy behind the bar. And at the moment he wasn’t looking.
“Open it all the way and see where we are,” Glenda said. “It’s clear.”
Aahz, much to his credit, didn’t turn around to check to see if she was right. He simply opened the map and spread it out over our plates of bad food.
No one paid any attention.
The golden cow palace was marked on the map. Well, at least we knew where that was.
Evade, the town we were in now was also marked. The road between them was marked as the lines between dimensions had been marked. There were a lot of other towns along the way, and one thing was very, very clear. We were still a long way from the golden cow.
Glenda studied the map hard, almost as if she were memorizing it.
“See anything that will help?” Tananda asked.
“If we go back to Vortex #6 I can get us a lot closer.”
“Thank heavens,” I said.
“Don’t be thanking anyone yet,” she said, staring at the map. “It’s still going to be too far to walk.”
Aahz folded up the map, put it back in his pouch, and stood.
“Tananda and I will go find a secluded place to hop back,” he whispered, leaning forward so only the three of us could hear him. “Think you two can get out of here without being noticed?”
“Easy,” Glenda said.
“See you there,” Tananda said, standing and moving toward the front door.
After we had pretended to eat more of our lunch, pushing the stuff into a pile on one side of the plate like I used to do as a
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